Starlight on the water
by hotwyr
Summary: Rock, Why'd you have to die?" They were ambushed, she thought he had died in her arms, but it was about to get much worse, for him at least. Summery sucks but the story is worth the read, Rated M because its black lagoon, F**K! RockxRevy.
1. Chapter 1

"Man that was a fuck easy job Dutch, a fucking waste of time if you ask me." Revy growled on the deck of the Lagoon as it glided into its Roanapur dock. She kicked one of the large crates on the back of the boat.

"Maybe, but work is work and we need the money." Dutch replied from the cabin while lighting up a smoke. Revy kicked the crate again with a huff.

"Please Revy, don't kick the merchandise, Chang will pay us less if it's damaged." Rock declared as he moved to tie off the boat.

"I know that dumbass…" Revy moved up and pushed Rock out of the way, "…all this time you've been on this boat and you still can't get your fuckin' knots right."

"Those two sure are being a lot nicer to each other since they got back from Japan." Benny stated to Dutch as he walked up beside him in the cabin.

"Yeah, it's been two months. As their employee I'm glad that my crew is getting along better." Dutch replied as he exhaled a mouthful of smoke, "Give Mr. Chang a call to let him know we've got his merchandise."

"Roger that." Benny replied as he went to his equipment.

Rock jumped down to the dock, followed by Revy.

"Good to see your leg's all healed up" Rock said as he went to finish tying up the boat, although Revy didn't barge in to do it this time.

"Yeah, took fuckin' long enough but I got full mobility again; sword boy definitely didn't go down without a fight." Rock's mind went back to the memories.

_That insane fight; he thought Revy was absolutely going to die. Revy with that sword sticking out of her leg, the big guy slumped a few feet away. Her scream as he pulled the sword from her leg. Yukio, holding the sword, to her throat._

He flinched as he remembered the sight and sound of the sword penetrating her throat, life seeping from her as she drowned in her own blood.

Revy noticed Rock's mood shift, "Hey Rock, you alright?" She asked with a faint softness to her voice. Her words shook him from his memories.

"Yeah I'm fi…" he was cut-off as multiple SUV's pulled up at the front of dock.

"What the hell…" Revy didn't finish as a barrage of bullets came flying towards them.

"GET DOWN ROCK!" She yelled as she drew her Cutlass. Rock moved quickly to find cover, but there was none at the front of the boat. Revy emptying her clips yelling "shit! Shit! SHIT!" they were completely vulnerable.

They moved further down the side of the boat for a bit of cover. She dropped the empty clips and reloaded.

"Fuck, we're fucked, I can't get them all." She looked over at Rock.

Rock took cover beside her, "I see that. Who are these…" thump, a bullet tore through his chest, Revy's eyes widened in horror as the scene folded out in front of her. The surrounding noise disappeared as Rock fell in slow motion. He kept falling, and falling, all she could do was watch. When his body finally hit the boards, everything sped back up.

"Rock! Talk to me Rock!" She looked down; blood was seeping through his white-collar shirt, staining his tie and the boards below.

"Shit Rock you can't die!" She yelled as she scrambled to Rock. She rolled him onto his back and sat over him.

"C'mon Rock, fuckin' stay with me!" She screamed as she held him in her arms.

"Revy, I…." Rock muttered, his eyes dim.

Her mind raced; she didn't know what to do, "Stop talking." She continued.

"Revy, I…" his eyes shut, and his body slumped.

"Rock?" She screamed as she stood, whipping both guns around at the cars, a single tear rolling down her cheek as the fire focused on her. She opened fire emptying clip after clip on them.

"Revy!" Dutch yelled as he jumped off the stern of the ship and pinned her down as an RPG flew over them and exploded between them and Rock.

"FUCK!" Revy yelled as she looked back at the wall of flames between her and Rock. Dutch yelling at her as he grabbed her around the waist "REVY! WE GOTTA GO, COME ON!"

"NO! I'M NOT LEAVING ROCK!" she struggled against him. They ran around the boat and out the side door, Revy kicking and screaming. Dutch jumped into the back through the open door of the GTO.

"Benny GO!" Dutch yelled at as he slammed the door. And the car tore of down the road into Roanapur.

"Dutch, We gotta go back, We gotta get Rock!" she yelled at him.

"No Revy, It's too dangerous." Dutch murmured.

"We gotta save get Rock!" She screamed.

"ROCK'S DEAD!" He yelled at her. She froze as the thought tore through her like she'd been shot by herself. She punched the back of the empty passenger seat.

"FUCK!" She yelled as she continued to pound the back of the seat, swearing over and over again with each punch, her knuckles getting bloody.

Revy laid in bed in the spare room of the office, curled up in the blankets. She was exhausted, but no sleep came.

She never slept well, but now all she could do was lay there, her eyes barely open; she couldn't move, she didn't want too.

She wasn't crying, not anymore. She couldn't in front of Dutch and Benny, but once they'd gotten back to the office, she dragged herself to her room, locked the door and showed the first signs of sadness in years.

Now she was in salty sheets, and sweating, but she was cold, ice cold and yet her chest burned.

'_Why does my chest hurt?'_ she thought. "Rock, fuckin' idiot." She screamed as she punched the wall, her words filled with sadness.

Benny sat in the lounge, Dutch was on the phone. It was dead quiet, neither of them had spoken since they got back, and they gave Revy the unrequested space they knew she needed. When they got back, Dutch called Chang and informed him of what happened.

"_You mean that...." _Chang voiced through the phone.

"I think so, he'd already been shot _before_ the RPG went off. If he hadn't actually died in Revy's arms after being shot, then the RPG would've gotten him…" Dutch replied. A somber silence followed.

"_I'm sorry Dutch. Have you informed Balalaika?" _Chang asked.

"Not yet, I thought you deserved to be informed first since your cargo was involved." Dutch replied_._

"_Ok Dutch, __get in touch with_ _her next, I'm going to the dock and checking it out personally." _The line went dead. Dutch dialled the Russian's office number. It rang a few times before being answered.

"_Hello Dutch, to what do I owe the honor?" _Balalaika asked.

"Balalaika, we were ambushed at the dock during a job. Rock was killed." He finished.

On the other side of the line Balalaika was shocked, but quickly regained her composure, albeit a lot more serious, and angry. Her second in command Boris noticed this.

"_Kapitan?" _she raised her hand to silence him.

"_When did this happen?" _her anger rising.

"About an hour ago. We had pulled into the dock after a job and we were attacked by some men." she lowered the phone and put it on loud speaker.

"_What were they driving?" _Balalaika asked,

"A few black SUV's and a few military jeeps, looked like they were from out off town. There were at least 40 heavily armed men. That's all I know."

She faced Boris, anger laced her tongue, "_Sergeant, find these men._ _I don't care who you kill or what you destroy; I want you to paint this town red until these men are found." _

"_Yes Kapitan." _He replied and left straight away due to the serious tone in her voice.

She picked the phone back up taking it off loud speaker,"_Dutch, we will find these men, and make them pay." _She said, brutality lacing her tone.

"_I want to settle up on this too. Contact Chang as well, he probably wants these bastards blood as much as us." _Ignoring the fact that Dutch was giving her orders, she agreed and hung up.

"_These men will wish they never came to Roanapur__" _She said to her subordinates.

"_Have one of our own died Kapitan? You seem…"_ Balalaika stopped him.

"_Yes, in a sense one of our own has died. And we will avenge him."_

Dutch sighed as he hung up the phone. He looked out the window, it was getting dark now and they needed to eat. He got up and was about to go looking for Benny when he came into the room holding a few pizza boxes,

"I figured it was about time we had something to eat." Benny said solemnly.

"Thanks Benny-boy." Dutch replied. Benny cleared some space on the little table and put the pizza down, after opening the box he asked,

"Do you think we should ask Revy?"

Dutch shook his head, "I doubt Revy is gonna want to eat in the state she's in."

"I've never seen her like this before." Benny wondered aloud.

"Me neither, I doubt there's a person on this planet that has. Two-hands just doesn't get like this."

For the measly half-hour of sleep she had gotten, Revy didn't feel any better. She climbed out of bed and quietly cracked the door open, seeing that both Dutch and Benny were asleep in the office lounge. She silently walked through to the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of Bacardi from the liquor cabinet. Alcohol poisoning felt like a better option than the swirl of thoughts currently going through her head.

Simply reading the bottle's label brought her to think of Rock. She began crying again, the gentle weeping soon becoming an uncontrollable sob.

"Fuck Rock why'd you have to die." She said to herself.

Movement from the lounge caught her attention. She collected herself and looked over her shoulder to see Benny leaning up on his left arm and rubbing his eyes.

Still half unconscious, she quickly got up and went back to her room as to not allow her co-workers to see her in tears. Dutch woke only to catch the tail end of Revy's quick exit, A thump on the couch brought his attention to Benny.

"She wake you too huh?" Benny said as he rolled over with his eyes shut once again.

Revy leaned up against the door, the fresh bottle in hand. She could hear Benny and Dutch talking though the door, but had no interest in what they were saying. She made her way back to the other side of the room and dropped on her bed. She cracked open the bottle and put it to her lips, not so much drinking but merely allowing it to pour down her throat. 'At this rate I'm going to need more booze.' She thought; the gentle weeping beginning again.

_Later on that sad day...._

"Hey Dutch, how are we gonna do this?" Benny asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's been nagging at me, sure the boats ok. And the three of us are physically alright…." Benny began to trail off, Dutch finished his sentence,

"You're wondering if we're still gonna be able too work aren't you?" Benny sighed in affirmation, then continued,

"Sure we got on alright without Rock, and business was good, but with the way Revy's going and the fact that…well we're a bit lost without him that's all." Dutch sat back and sighed again.

"I know what your saying Benny-boy, and unfortunately I agree with you; we can't live without the kid…" The silence was cut by the phone ringing; Dutch slowly got up and went over to the phone.

"We found them." Dutch knew Balalaika's voice all too well.

"And one more thing." She said.

"What is it?"

"Rock is alive"


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you sure?!" he replied with urgency.

"Yes. The bastards were spotted in an abandoned town, one of the locals saw them carrying a man with a white-collar shirt; he had been shot and by the looks of it beaten around too. The men who took him are a combination of mercenaries and ex-KGB; they're known for torture techniques and always being heavily armed."

"What's the best way to handle this situation?" Dutch asked.

"I've already contacted Mr. Chang; both the Triad and Hotel Moscow are coming together to take these shits out as they are a threat to both of our organizations, We're having a strategy meeting at the hotel at 1800; bring Two-hands." The line went dead. He absorbed all of the information and looked at his watch, it was quarter to 5 in the afternoon. They had to hurry.

"Benny, get ready to move, were going to Balalaika's."

Before he could respond Dutch had run to his office, Benny began bashing on Revy's door.

She was still lying in the same position, feeling exactly the same. Her mind was a blank whirl of grey thoughts. She didn't notice the phone ring. She didn't register Dutch's agitated voice as he spoke to Balalaika. She didn't hear Benny bashing on her door, and she only flinched when he broke open the door.

"Revy, Get up! We gotta go!" She didn't move,

"Revy!" He yelled. She sat up but didn't look at him,

"Revy! Rock's alive!" Dutch cut off Benny, holstering his revolver and standing in the doorway.

"Rock… alive… but…he's dead." She was paralyzed at the news.

"No, he was captured by the fuckers who attacked us, the Triad and Hotel Moscow are going to take those assholes out; we're going to get Rock!" She got up, and moved over to her Cutlass. She picked one of them up and stared at it for a brief second before putting on her holsters and sliding in both Berettas.

"What the fuck are we waiting for?" She said angrily at Dutch as she walked passed him and to the car.

The room was filled with tension. On one side was Chang with a handful of subordinates, on the other was Dutch, Benny, and Revy, and at her desk was Balalaika; her second and third in command on either side of her.

"So, we all know why we're here, but I'm going to over it again quickly." Balalaika spoke as she looked over at Chang, who nodded, then Dutch, who also nodded. Finally, she looked at Two-hands who was looking at the ground, her bangs covering her eyes.

"A band a mercenaries and ex- KGB officers have grouped in an abandoned village a few miles away from here. They have taken Rock as a hostage, but have not made any demands or contacted anyone about him so we can assume they're just using him as a play thing." Revy tensed at the news, and a solemn look came over Chang's and Balalaika's faces.

"The fact is that these men pose a threat to both the Triad and Hotel Moscow, and so we are going to wipe them from the face off he earth." bloodlust ever present in her words.

"What about Rock?" Revy asked quietly, still looking at the floor, everyone turning their attention to her.

"That's where you come in Two-hands, if Rock is still alive, you are to go in and get him out while we take care of the rest." Balalaika flatly responded.

"And if he's not alive?" Revy asked; the ever growing anger present in her voice.

"We give every last one of those fuckers the most painful death they could ever imagine" Chang retorted, and Balalaika nodded in agreement. They looked over at Revy; she was smiling slightly.

"I like that plan." She said, her smile turning into a fanged grin as she looked up and Balalaika, what Balalaika saw scared her for a second, although she would never admit it.

She had seen bloodlust in Revy's eyes before, but this was something else.

Her insatiable hunger for death, infused with sadness, rage and focus, all combined into an enveloping stare which told you that at any second she might unleash herself and all of her rage upon you.

Balalaika looked up and noticed that she wasn't the only one who had been shaken by Revy, Chang, Dutch and Boris had all noticed it, and had all been terrified by those eyes.

'Those _Lohi _are in for one hell of a day.' She thought, as a menacing grin formed across her face.

"Let's go, no point wasting any more time." Balalaika announced as she stood from her chair and went to walk out the door, followed by Chang, Dutch and Benny. Revy stood there for a second as she looked out the window as the sun was beginning to get low on the horizon, the pain clear in her eyes,

'_Were coming Rock, don't you fucking die before I get there.' _she thought, turning on her heels she stormed out the door following the rest.

A tall guy kicked a rock, and watched as it bounced along the ground.

"This is boring, why do we have to be on guard duty?" he said to the short guy in an Irish accent.

"Fuck if I know, but we gotta so you might as well stop bitching." The short guy replied in a Russian accent. He sat down against a tree and lit up a smoke, he heard the sound of cars coming to a halt not too far away,

"Hey did you hear that?" he asked the tall guy.

"Hear what? I didn't hear a fucking thing." The Irishman replied. The Russian looked over to where he heard the cars, and wasn't convinced. But shook his head and returned to the task at hand, taking a long drag from his cigarette. He heard another noise and looked back over into that direction, and saw four people walking towards, he asked the Irishman calmly,

"Hey, when were these guys supposed to get back?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? No one's off the base." The Irishman replied, thinking that his companion was just seeing things.

"Then who the fuck ar-" A bullet went between the eyes of the short Russian, and he dropped dead in a pool of blood. The Irishman, taken by surprise spun around only to find a custom Beretta in his face.

"Wha-What d-do y-you want?" he stammered.

"Where is the guy with the white-collar shirt you and your boys captured?" she asked in a cold voice.

"H-He's in the main building, in the center of town on the left, just don't-" he let out a blood curdling scream as a gunshot rang out. The shot had passed through his eye but was angled down as to miss his brain; it wasn't meant to kill him quickly.

He fell to the ground and convulsed in agony for a few seconds before slowly becoming motionless.

Revy, Dutch, Balalaika and Chang continued on after the man had stopped writhing in agony, followed closely by about 20 of the most skilled Triad's and 15 of Balalaika's men.

The sun was setting quickly behind them as they moved towards the abandoned village.

As they began to get closer to the village they were noticed by some soldiers at the front buildings,

"Intruders!" A voice rang out amongst the buildings,

"It's party time!" Chang said as they began to take fire. Chang and Balalaika both raised their guns and began to return fire, taking them out one by one. Revy kept walking; not even flinching.

Some heavy machine gun fire came from a building up ahead and to the right, Dutch raised his revolver letting off 2 shots, and the machine gun fire stopped.

Soon they were past the front buildings, the Triad and Hotel Moscow branched off to the left and right with their respected leaders, while Dutch and Revy kept going straight,

"Say hi to Rock for me!" Balalaika said to Revy over the gunfire as she moved on.

"You got it sis." she retorted as she raised both of her Beretta's and opened fire on the men in front of her with Dutch, taking them out with a single round to each man, her focus not moving from directly in front of her as she swung the cutlasses around her taking out another dozen soldiers.

A couple of smart soldiers had taken cover behind some sand bags that had been set up to the right.

"Dutch." Revy spoke quietly.

"I got em'; you find Rock" Dutch replied as he pulled a shotgun from behind his back where it was holstered.

Revy kept walking past the men as she moved towards the center of the village, Dutch aiming his shotgun at the sandbags.

"You guys picked the wrong day to fuck with me." He growled as he fired the shotgun repeatedly, one round tearing apart the top of a soldier's skulls. Grey matter, blood and skull fragments spraying the wall behind them, an image of the horror about to unfold.

Revy had walked into an open area in the buildings. She looked around only to find she was surrounded by soldiers who were grinning idiotically.

The hollow eyes that had intimidated Balalaika now swept over the soldiers that surrounded her. A split second later, she had emptied both her magazines dropping every last one of the men.

Her eyes locked on a large building to her left while reloading, her eyes softened and she ran over to it.

His body ached all over as he faded in and out of consciousness.

He heard yelling, _"They're probably trying to figure out how to kill me now"._

He smiled at the thought; death, release, but something was digging at the back of his skull, and he couldn't work out what it was in his disoriented state.

Finally it dawned on him; Revy. His memories of her flashed in his mind, those first few seconds before she had pulled a gun on him.

He thought she looked beautiful, and even with that polished firearm aimed at his face; she still fascinated him.

Over the past two years, what he'd seen of her, her hard exterior, the way she would try to enforce her strength over him, constantly threatening his life. The day when he had been fed up with her shit, the day she nearly killed him, had he not redirected the gun.

He laughed inwardly, a small but painful snicker escaping his teeth.

That ride back in the backseat of that cop car, how he had gained her respect, and that moment with the cigarettes; that was the nicest smoke he'd ever had.

Finally, he got to see another side of Revy, the one she hid deep down, but still had none the less, her soft side, her past, her feelings.

_Did she have feelings for me? _That thought that had crossed his mind hundreds of times.

He heard gunfire outside, it sounded familiar, _"They're probably just fighting over who gets to kill me_._"_

He'd given up living through this, his logic never failed to be as depressing as ever telling him there's no chance someone was coming to save him.

Then the door broke open, lighting up the room slightly. Although he was still in the shadows, he waited for the bullet from one of the ex-KGB, instead he heard a voice which shook him from the haze of his thoughts

"Rock?!?"

"Revy…" his voice quite and his throat sore.

"Rock!" she exclaimed as she ran over to him.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and tried to look into his eyes.

Then her fingers twitched as she felt it; so much blood.

Her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked him over in horror; his clothes were shredded, his face bruised, his body torn, bloody and beaten.

He tensed under the pressure of her light touch, but she seemed to worried to notice.

"Are you alright? She asked.

"_I've been better_" he murmured in a raspy voice, and tried to comfort her with a smile, but it was too much and some blood from his lungs decided it wanted out, a portion of it landing on her cheek, she was so caught up in the beaten man in front of her to care.

He looked up at her as his vision began to clear, and he saw the horrified and saddened look on her face. It nearly broke his heart that he'd made her sad enough that she was physically showing it; no easy feat.

"Come on we're getting you out of this shithole." Rock just nodded, wanting to say something but he knew Revy would just cut him off, she stood behind him and pulled out a knife. The ropes holding him to the chair went limp, when he heard a voice that terrified him.

"Revy, hide!" He rasped. She ducked behind him and he wrapped his arms around the back of the chair as a large man appeared in the door.

"What the fuck, they're fuckin' killin' all my men! They your fuckin' friends? I'm gonna fuck you up even more because of this shit." He rambled as he trounced across the room and punched Rock in the stomach, making him heave forward and cough up more blood.

Revy ground her teeth and was about to pounce on the fucker but Rock grabbed her by the arm and held her down, she silently understood, and crouched back down.

The boss hadn't noticed the ropes were loose or that Revy was ducked behind the chair. The ex-KGB began to pound into Rock and Revy winced at the sound of Rock's flesh being pummelled and bones breaking.

Rock slid his hand down her arm and into her hand. She was unsure on how to react but squeezed back. All he wanted to do was hold her hand then, it gave him the strength to ignore the pain of his body, just to concentrate on the way her hands felt. Calluses on the inside of the fingers but the rest of her hands were soft. He ran his thumb across her knuckles, and noticed they were cut up from extensive punching of an inanimate hard object.

He tightened the grip on her hand as some of the pained flowed back into his senses as the thug threw another punch.

He never wanted to let go off her hand, he wanted to hold it for eternity.

As the thug finished his barrage, Rock's strength drained from him, and he had nearly let go of her hand. She caught it and held it tighter than before, his breathing had become harsh and heavy and he coughed up a few more ounces of blood.

"Still alive you little fuck? You getting brave because of these fuckers? Well don't worry you little shit, that blonde bitch, that bastard Chang and that black fuck will all be dead soon enough." He spurted as a toothed grin spread on his face.

Then a hoarse and cracked laugh echoed from Rock's mouth.

The grin instantly left the man's face as he retorted "What's so fuckin funny?"

"As much as I doubt you'd be able to kill them, they're not the reason I'm still here." Rock rasped,

"You see, there's one person who's giving me the strength I need right now to keep breathing." Rock paused for a second gasping for air.

"She's the one I care about most in this world. She's the one I would give my life for. And I think it's about time you met her."

"What the fuck are y-" The boss dropped to the ground as Revy was on cue, blowing out his kneecap in a spray of cartilage, bone and blood.

Revy stood up from behind Rock, the shadows hiding her face as she raised the gun towards the man, the sparse amounts of light coming into the room glittered over the polished metal and shone over her eyes. From the soldiers point of view her eyes glowed demonically in the shadows.

"You fucked up; you took my partner. I thought he was dead, and I'm in a shit of a mood because of it." She released one of her magazines and pulled a black one from her belt.

"You Fucking Bitch!" he spat at her, holding what was left of his knee.

"When I found out he was still alive, well I just had to bring these." She knelt beside the crippled man allowing him to see the rounds which would end his life close up, "Black talons; bullets designed to shred flesh."

She loaded the black magazine into her cutlass, and racked the slide back, "I've got 15 of'em in this gun and I'm going to put every one of them through you."

As she raised the black magazine loaded Cutlass, a voice rang out, "Boss!"

Revy turned to see a soldier in the doorway with a gun raised. She raised her other cutlass to kill him but he managed to fire of a shot before she could take him out; the bullet ripping through her leg.

"MOTHER FUCKER!" she screamed.

Rock looked at Revy through his blood shot eyes as she took a step back to him. She carefully tore off some of his already shredded shirt and tightened it around her wound, clenching her teeth.

She limped back over to the man who had attempted to pull himself away. Revy booted him in the face stopping him in his tracks, both still in the room with Rock.

His eyes opened in terror as she raised the gun to his thigh.

The shot rang out loudly with the sound of tearing flesh and shattering bone. His agonizing screams filling the air while his blood covered the floor around him.

She fired twice into his shoulder, nearly severing his arm, leaving it hanging by some torn flesh.

She fired multiple rounds into his other limbs, literally tearing him apart.

He was now bleeding profusely, and probably wouldn't live through the next minute, so Revy decided it was about time to end it.

"Time to die." She muttered at him.

"Go to hell." He spat at her, Revy raised the cutlass to his face and fired off the rest of the magazine; the black talons pierced his jaw and tore out the back of his throat. He gagged on his own blood for a few seconds before going limp.

She lowered the cutlass to her side; the slide locked back.

She walked back over to Rock and knelt beside him

"Let's get the fuck outta here." She said quietly. He nodded and wrapped his arm around her neck as she lifted him up, and carried him out of the room.

As they limped out into the light, Rock tried to lift his other arm to cover his eyes from the setting sun but had no strength left. Revy noticed and raised her hand to make like she was covering her own while, without meaning too, covering his too. He knew she was doing it for him but had no fight left in him and let it slide, as they watch the sunset for a second before moving on.

They came around the corner to see Dutch walking towards them; his right side covered in blood, most of it not his.

"Let me give you a hand." He said as he walked up to them, Revy nodded and Dutch softly lifted Rock's left arm around his wide shoulders and lifted him slightly.

They walked back the way they had entered the town. Rock conscious enough to notice the bodies littered throughout the town.

"You did this all for me?" he rasped.

"Don't get the wrong idea Rock. Don't go getting yourself captured just for us to come get you, we might not be so willing next time." Dutch replied with his trademark terrifying laugh, although at this moment Rock found it pleasant.

"Well if it isn't the one and only Rock, we thought you'd run away!" Chang joked as he walked around the corner, his smile soon replaced with seriousness somewhat out of character for the man as he looked over Rock, he looked up at Dutch.

"There's a medic in the black SUV, he'll look him over." Dutch nodded in thanks before the three headed for the cars.

"Poor kid, he sure went through hell." Chang said quietly when they were out of earshot, apparently speaking to someone, as if on cue Balalaika walked out of the building behind him, Chang not even flinching at her sudden appearance.

"Yes, he is quite strong that young man, and very amusing." She let out a small chuckle as she remembered how he had reacted when she held him at gun point in Japan.

"What the hell happened to you? You try to get yourself killed or something?" The Medic said in a slight Australian accent as they laid rock down onto a stretcher.

"Not quite" Rock joked. He began coughing up more blood; the walk had taken a lot from him.

The medic got serious, "Ok stop talking, you're in bad shape, you ain't out of the woods yet." Rock tried to smile at that comment but the pain was too much and a grim look crossed his face as he twisted in agony.

Revy leaned down and grabbed his shoulder, he looked up at her and settled as the medic began his work to try and stop Rock from dying.

"You have a punctured lung, internal bleeding, multiple broken bones and multiple gashes that could be fatal if not tended too, and that's just the start of it. Whatever you've been through, you're lucky to be alive, AND conscious." The medic concluded, and pulled out a pack and began tending to Rock.

"That last one might not be for much longer doc." Rock said as he looked over at Revy, a smile on her face, not one full of rage, but happiness.

"Well I can't do much here, you got a place where I can work on you properly?" the medic asked.

"We'll take you to the office, it's closest." Dutch voiced.

**Authors Note: Lohi = fuckers, simple I know but it needed it.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Several mind numbingly tedious hours later, back in the office....._

"Well I've sorted out his lung and the bleeding, as long as he's careful and doesn't do much physical activity he should make a good recovery, at the least he's gonna be walking away with a few scars." said the medic as he closed the door behind him.

"So can we see him?" Revy asked impatiently.

"He's out of it at the moment 'cause of the painkillers." The medic shrugged.

"All well that ends well! I'll be seeing you kid's later." said Chang as he stretched while standing, Balalaika giving him a glare out of the corner of her eye.

Revy gave a nod to Chang, who turned to speak to Dutch, "Ah Dutch, I need to speak with you about a job, and where's Benny?"

Dutch had a rule never to work while an employee is out of commission, a fact that Chang knew that very well; he got the hint.

"Yeah, sure. Benny's gone to the dock to do some maintenance; he was getting all twitchy waiting so he figured he'd get some work done." He walked over to Chang and the medic and they went down the stairs and out of ear range, not wanting to get shot at for eaves dropping on whatever was about to be said.

"Hey sis, I wanted thank you for all you did." Revy voiced while rubbing the back of her head, _Fuck I'm no good at this._ She thought to herself.

"Oh really?" Balalaika responded, amused at the sight before her.

"Well thanks to you we got Rock back, so… yeah… Thanks."

"You don't have to thank me my dear; I merely just offered you another chance with the boy."

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?" Revy exclaimed, shocked at the Russian's words.

"Exactly what it's supposed to mean Two-hands; now if you don't mind I'll be on my way." Balalaika retorted before standing up and walking over to Revy, before walking past her she stopped.

"Don't let this chance go to waste; after all we're not the type to live long." Balalaika whispered before walking down the stairs and out the front door.

_What the hell was the about? _Revy thought, shaking the thoughts of the odd way Balalaika had acted she walked over to the door to her room.

Rock was lying on Revy's bed, although he'd never thought it'd be like this, he smiled at the thought. He looked out the window at the dark sky, clouds floating over the glow of Roanapur. Pain shot up his left side like white hot steel was being rammed through him, he wrenched in pain, nearly ripping his fresh stitches apart. He couldn't help but utter a pain filled groan, Revy entered the room; obviously the groan was loud enough for her to hear.

"Hey, you okay? You aren't dying on me are you?" Revy joked as she walked in, seeing the agony printed across his face and sitting up she grew concerned and quickly covered the short length of the room.

"Hey, take it easy!" She said.

"Yeah, it's nothing." He said through clenched teeth, he convulsed again before dropping back down on the bed. He looked back up at her, "Painkillers must've warn off." He joked.

"Hey Revy?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry that I got shot, and that you had to come get me." He apologized, looking away from her and out the window.

"Next time, hide behind me, so I get the bullet. Alright partner?" she murmured, looking away from him.

"That's not fair Revy." Rock asserted, looking back at her.

"Remember the deal, you use your words to try to stop fights, but when the bullet's start flying you let me do the work, alright?" she replied, looking him in the eyes.

He held her gaze for a few seconds then looked up at the roof, "Revy, when you left the car, Dutch said something to me."

"Yeah, what?"

"He said that, when you had thought I had died, you were a wreck, you didn't leave you room since you'd gotten back, you didn't talk to anyone." Revy looked away from him again, trying to hide the pain in her eyes from his gaze, '_Fuck Dutch, why'd you have to tell him' _she thought.

"And that's what I really wanted to apologize for." He murmured.

"You should probably get some sleep, otherwise Dutch will kick us both out." She turned on her heels and began to walk out the room.

"Revy!" the sternness in his voice stopped her at the door.

"Listen Rock, don't push it. I'm just glad your back, now get some rest and heal up. We can talk again in the morning." She said as she opened the door.

_3 months later, a few clicks out of the port of Roanapur...._

"Aww shit. Not this again." Dutch sighed as he accelerated, the pirate ships moving up to flank them on either side.

"REVY! Get out there!" He said over the radio.

"You got it Dutchie." her voice coming through his ear piece.

"Damn it, it's Luak all over again Dutch." Benny radioed in.

"Yeah I know; Revy, hurry up!"

"Don't push it Dutch, Rock, get ready; I might need ya." Revy said into the microphone, as she walked to the bow.

"Rock? What do you need him for?" Dutch asked.

"You'll find out soon enough; Rock!" Revy was getting impatient from him not answering.

"Got it Revy, I'll set up when you give me the word." Rock replied through the radio.

"What the fuck are they doing?" Dutch asked himself, though Benny replied.

"I have no idea Dutch, in fact I can't see Rock anywhere on deck."

"Ok Benny-boy, let's just wait for the show."

Revy fired her grenade launcher at the boat to her right, blowing the deck apart, then jumped onto the one to her left; quickly mowing down the crew of the vessel with the sub machine gun in her other hand. The boats behind her began to fire at her; she jumped off of the now cleared boat and landed on another, crushing a goon in the process, before putting a round between his eyes. She raised the grenade launcher and blew 3 of them off the back of the boat, as the smoke and debris cleared Revy heard a humming in the distance.

"Shit Dutch, something's approaching quick; from the stern. Revy can you see it?" Benny radioed in. She looked to the rear to see a chopper in the sky approaching quickly, "A fucking Helicopter?!" Revy yelled.

"Shit; and we got no one to man the anti-air rifle!" Dutch groaned.

"Don't worry Dutchie, I got it sorted. ROCK!" Revy grinned.

"Already set up Revy, it's in my sights now." Rock replied from the hatch, the anti-air rifle that Revy had used in that first week of him being there now hanging off the railing in front of him; the same way she had set it up. He set the crosshairs for the base of the rotors, and adjusted for the distance and altitude.

"Rock? Aww fuck no, he doesn't even know how to fire a gun, much less a fucking 50-CAL RIFLE!" Dutch looked worried.

"Like I said don't worry, what do you think we've been doing during his recovery? After you Rock."

"Ahh, now I get it, all those trips to the shooting range; I thought you were just dragging him along to scare this shit of him." Benny laughed at his misguided assumption.

A shot rang out cutting off Benny's laughter. The large calibre round piercing the air, but instead of the rotor, ran through the engine's intake, destroying the left motor, sending it down to the water.

"Holy shit! Rock just dropped the chopper!" Benny said in disbelief, checking the radar for a malfunction.

"HAHA NICE SHOT ROCKY-BABY!" Revy yelled, watching the chopper go down.

"Fuck, I can't believe Rock of all people just pulled off that shot." Dutch stated, just as shocked as Benny.

"Bet you didn't see that coming did you Dutch?" Revy revelling in the shock of her employer.

"REVY!" Rock's voice rang out over the radio, in the heat of the moment she hadn't realized that there was one last guy on her boat, he had his gun already raised and she didn't have enough time to react, "Fuck" she said as she began to turn, time slowing down when, BANG. Another large calibre bullet from Rock tore off one of the guy's arms.

"FUCK ROCK!" Revy yelled through the radio.

"Sorry Revy, it's all I could do to stop him from getting you." Rock replied in an apologetic tone, she could just imagine the puppy dog eyes.

"Remember, killing is my job!" she retorted. She fired a round into the now screaming man, who was missing his arm, quickly shutting him up.

"Man this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Only Rock would try and pull off a non-lethal shot with a 50-cal." Dutch shook his head.

"Well that's Rock for you, always the pacifist." Benny replied.

Rock, ignoring his friends' words ran over the remaining boats with the scope.

"Three left Revy, 4 guys on the one closest to you." Rock informed.

"Thanks Rock!" Revy replied before jumping onto said boat and began the task of killing all onboard.

The next boat pulled out an RPG launcher and aimed at the boat Revy was currently taking care off. Rock aimed at the RPG launcher and fired a shot just behind the head of the RPG, disabling the launcher and dropping the RPG into the water without a discharge, the only damaged caused by shrapnel from the launcher burying itself into the goons shoulder.

He smiled at the skill of the shot; 3 months of shooting under Revy's guidance had turned him into a competent backup for her. They had both mutually agreed that he should learn how to shoot _without _killing someone, he wanted to pull his weight a bit more, and she had agreed with that one condition, _I wonder why?_ The question repeated in his head again, he couldn't figure out why she had that condition.

"What was that Rock?" Revy asked him after taking care of all on her current vessel, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Some idiot pulled an RPG on you, I took care of it." Rock informed her, feeling quite masculine in protecting the girl for once, it was clear in his tone and Revy caught it, but just smiled and shook her head before leaping over to the RPG'ers boat to take care of the bastards.

It was late that night as they approached there dock. As the boat glided in, Rock went to tie off the boat. The engines shut off and Dutch and Benny came onto the deck.

"Hey Rock, want to come to the Flag for a drink?" Dutch asked

"No thanks, I think I'll just stay with the boat." Rock replied, appearing deep in thought. Dutch didn't seem to care.

"Well do what you want, just remember to lock up after you leave, coming Revy?" Dutch looked over at Revy, she was watching Rock, who had moved to the rear of the boat and sat down.

"I'll catch up later." She said waving them off. Dutch shrugged and moved off to the car with Benny.

"What's up partner?" She asked as she sat down next to Rock, who was staring off over the water with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, the starlight on the water sending a shimmering pattern across the clear liquid. He didn't respond, seeming dazed. She pulled out a cigarette from her pack, but couldn't find her lighter _Must have fucking fell out when I was jumping those boats. _She thought.

"Got a light?" Revy's words jarred Rock from his thoughts and pulled out a lighter, he looked back out to the water as he held the steady flame in front of her until she rested her head back like Rock.

They sat there for a few minutes, not saying anything, not even moving, just letting the cigarettes burn away in their lips.

"Revy, why don't you want me to kill?" Rock asked quietly.

"So that's what you were thinking?" she said, avoiding the question.

"We've been partners for over 2 years. But you still won't talk to me straight." Rock beginning to get angry at her.

"Just drop it." Revy said, not wanting to go any further on the subject.

"We're not dropping this, start talking to me straight instead of bullshitting me, I've put up with it enough; I deserve it." He started getting angry again, we wasn't about to let her back out now.

"You want to know? FUCKIN FINE! When I'd thought you'd died, I felt like I couldn't live, like I couldn't move, like I couldn't breathe! I had lost the one thing I cared for most in this world." She was shaking.

"If you kill someone, and you'll no longer be in that twilight you talk so much about. It would change you, and I couldn't take that Rock, I just couldn't."

Revy dropped her head, one knee up and her arm covering her face. _She's hurting this much? _Rock thought, looking at her made his heart ache, after everything she had just said, he did the only thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, Revy raised her head in shock and put his face next to hers and hugged her. She didn't move, she didn't know what to do, she put her face into his neck and leant in,

"Fucking idiot." She muttered.

Rock woke up in a dark room aboard the lagoon. He noticed he had no clothes on, _ok probably not a good sign_ he thought to himself, then he felt the person next to him, with their face buried into his neck, their bodies intertwined, her red hair going out in all directions. His memory quickly returned.

_He had embraced her, when she had started to calm down a bit, he pulled his face back to look her in the eyes, and he kissed her. She was shocked by his forwardness; soon they began the fight for dominance, neither winning but neither giving an inch either. Somehow they had gotten up and moved into the boat and eventually made it to her quarters. He had kicked the door shut behind him and they made their way to the bed. She started unbuttoning his shirt as they broke for air, he obliged her as she pulled it over his shoulders and he began removing her holsters, then her tank top. They came together for another bruising kiss as he went about removing her shorts, while she undid his pants._

He smiled as his thoughts continued into a very hot and dirty fight for dominance. He stroked her red hair, a content smile crossing his lips, after all they had done he had every reason to be content. She began to stir and he stopped stroking her hair. She looked up at him with half closed eyes. Some scary thoughts crossed his mind as he imagined what she'd do to him because he was in her bed, and she obviously picked up on the nervous smile across his face.

"Why are you so fucking nervous? I'm not going to kill you because we did it." She said in a matter-of-fact way. He couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"So what happens now?" he asked her, having no clue himself; She shrugged.

"Dunno, but don't think you can go off and fuck any other woman now, your all mine!" a devilish grin spread across her face.

He started laughing; she looked at him as if he had a screw loose.

"That's what I love about you Revy." The words leaving his mouth before realizing what he'd said, she was shocked by his words.

"What did you say?" Revy asked, an eyebrow raised, Rock began to sweat bullets, but decided he was here so might as well say it; _if she kills me at least I went out with a bang._

"I… I think I said I love you." Rock stunned at his own words, he waited for the blow to his head, or his nuts.

"Huh…" Revy said thoughtfully before burying her head back into his neck, _at least I'm still alive _He thought to himself as he smiled and wrapped his arms around her again before going back to sleep beside her.


	4. Epilogue

Epilogue

_Between Rock, Dutch and Benny._

"So you two finally slept together?"

"Yep"

"And she didn't kill you?"

"I'm standing here aren't I?"

"You gotta be the luckiest son of a bitch on this world."

"haha."

"I wonder if I can combine your pay and cut a bit off the top."

"Hey Dutch that isn't fair!"

"Hey Rock you made me lose the bet with Benny, actually both of you did, so it is fair."

"Actually Dutch, It was over two years, so I lost the bet fair and square."

"WELL THEN I WANT A RAISE!"

**Authors note: Well thanks for making it this far, i hope you enjoyed it. This story would have been absolutely crap if it wasn't for jm1681 doing the entire beta for me (the 4 or 5 times, again so sorry that it was so amateur). So a big round of applause everyone! Thanks jm i owe you one. Review or leave, do whatever you want! Flamers will be ignored or torched back, depending on my mood :P**


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